As a 90s product, we grew up in a time when every new thing thrown by Bollywood created a storm. Every new dance routine, every new costume, every new song captured the imagination of a billion people.
But as we move from a generation of half-baked ideas to an era of excessive knowledge, we have experienced a paradigm shift in almost our entire way of life. One section of society that has and is still going through a massive change are the performers.
Bollywood’s Everlasting Love for Dancing
Although no performer on Earth has been spared by the changing norms, let’s talk about a particular kind of performer, specifically in India.
The Bollywood Dancer.
With changing society and world, Bollywood films have undergone a massive change. But the more stark difference can be seen in the way dance and dancers have evolved in Bollywood. In fact, the rate of change has been faster in the previous two decades than in the 87 years before it.
Although the change in bollywood dance was slow and gradual, there was one major breakthrough in the 80s, that brought a lot more momentum to dance in Bollywood. And that was called Mithun Chakraborty.
Even though Mithun Chakraborty was not the first to dance in Bollywood films, he definitely was the first to do it with technique. He made an entire nation sway to his movement and pizazz in the iconic, ‘I am a Disco Dancer’ song. The moment Mithun glorified the words ‘Disco’ and ‘Dance’, an entire clan of actors began adding dancing to their resumes. This was a milepost in Bollywood’s enduring love story with Dance.
Era Post Mithun
After Mithun, dancing became a highly sought after skill for actors, probably more than acting. Now, to be a leading actor and actress you need the big three: Good looks, decent acting skills and great dancing skills.
Govinda is one of the most iconic actors in Bollywood, and with good reason. He is one of those actors who could do it all- superb acting with a soaring range (including both drama and comedy, which is not every actor’s cup of tea), cute looks and of course, great dancing skills. Even though he established his forte in comedy later, he entered the industry with dancing, inspired by none other than Mithun himself.
If Mithunda was the first to dance with technique, Hrithik Roshan was the first to perfect the technique. The dance revolution he started remains and is universal and relevant throughout the years. He was one of those actors who didn’t just rely on a pretty face and a father’s name to stick it in the industry. He actually worked hard on himself, his speech, his dancing skills, his acting skills, and everything else. He understood the importance of uniqueness in this business, and created a different identity for himself, independent of his lineage.
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